Imitation
Nor Arne, nor Mincius, nor stately Tiber,Sebethus, nor the flood into whose streamsHe fell who burnt the world with borrow'd beams;Gold-rolling Tagus, Munda, famous Iber,Sorgue, Rhone, Loire, Garron, nor proud-bank'd Seine,Peneus, Phasis, Xanthus, humble Ladon,Nor she whose nymphs excel her who loved Adon,Fair Tamesis, nor Ister large, nor Rhine,Euphrates, Tigris, Indus, Hermus, Gange,Pearly Hydaspes, serpent-like Meander,--The gulf bereft sweet Hero her Leander--Nile, that far, far his hidden head doth range,Have ever had so rare a cause of praiseAs Ora, where this northern Phoenix stays.
Words in this poem
- gange v. t.
- To protect (the part of a line next a fishhook, or the hook itself) by winding it with wire.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Imitation is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Petrarch, Imitation, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/imitation.html, id L26257.
Form and metre
Imitation is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).
See other Italian sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAABBACDCDCD tiberA · streamsB · beamsB · iberA · seineA · ladonB · adonB · rhineA · gangeC · meanderD · leanderC · rangeD · praiseC · staysD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Nor Arne, nor Mincius, nor stately Tiber, | 10 | ······/˘/˘ |
| Sebethus, nor the flood into whose streams | 10 | ·········· |
| He fell who burnt the world with borrow'd beams; | 10 | ·······/·· |
| Gold-rolling Tagus, Munda, famous Iber, | 11 | ·/˘····/˘·· |
| Sorgue, Rhone, Loire, Garron, nor proud-bank'd Seine, | 10 | ···/˘···/˘ |
| Peneus, Phasis, Xanthus, humble Ladon, | 10 | ··/˘··/˘·· |
| Nor she whose nymphs excel her who loved Adon, | 11 | ····˘/···˘/ |
| Fair Tamesis, nor Ister large, nor Rhine, | 10 | ·········· |
| Euphrates, Tigris, Indus, Hermus, Gange, | 10 | ˘/˘/˘/˘··· |
| Pearly Hydaspes, serpent-like Meander,-- | 10 | /˘··/˘·˘/˘ |
| The gulf bereft sweet Hero her Leander-- | 11 | ··˘/·/˘·˘/˘ |
| Nile, that far, far his hidden head doth range, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Have ever had so rare a cause of praise | 10 | ·/˘······· |
| As Ora, where this northern Phoenix stays. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.